Bummer Day...two bad films. I should have known though because they were at the Victoria which is the kiss of death. It's the low end theater and they still do not have butter for popcorn. They have butter flavoring - ugh.
Film one.The Future Present
Program Description: Eighteen-year-old Xiaobin travels from China to Buenos Aires to join her conservative family who immigrated years earlier. Her parents, who refuse even to learn Spanish, want her to fit in with the Chinese immigrant community and marry a nice Chinese boy, but the low-key teenager with a quiet smile has a few surprises up her sleeve. She rebels by secretly taking a Spanish class, hiding her savings, and spending time outside class with one of her fellow students on the sly. As the students in the class improvise simple dialogues to practice what they’ve learned, Xiaobin turns new lessons learned into a new experience in life. Improvising scenarios for what she wishes would happen, or not happen, the future perfect becomes not only a grammatical tense, but a way for her to imagine the life she wants to live. Director Nele Wohlatz recruited most of the cast, including her lead, from actual language-school students, and brilliantly uses their innocence and naïveté to create an atmosphere of spontaneity, realism, and genuine camaraderie. “The language school,” she says, “could be understood as a rehearsal stage for a new identity after immigration.” –Miguel Pendás
This was my second choice film. I missed the earlier one about the fun and the havoc of people living in Greece in their current crumbling economy. This film was interesting because it was such an unusual life we visited. This genre is called Docu-Fiction. The people are living their reality but there is some scripting. The earlier film I saw, Mr. Universo, was also Docu-Fiction.
The environment is a foreign language school in Argentina. The students are Chinese and have ended up in Argentina. Their Spanish is quite good. The story revolves around Xiaobin. She is giving a little biography of her life in class and then there are little breaks while it is re-enacted.In a review I read it said as she learned new tenses to explain herself the plot also expands as her life is also growing like her Spanish. I didn't pick up on that but it's a cool concept.
The interesting thing was getting a slice of her life as an immigrant from such a contrasting culture. Her parents had lived in Argentina for an unknown period of time and then bought her a ticket to come live with them. They wanted her to work right away to pay back the price of the ticket. The interviewer asked if they they were excited to greet her and she said no. It's nice to see her get an independent life until her mother gets her to work in the laundry with her and starts to find a husband for her.
I had the same problem with this as the Mr. Universo film. It is more of a reality show that rambles without a storyline.
These two pictures show one of my favorite parts, her suitor Vijay. An Indian programmer who innocently proclaims he wants her as a wife on their second date. It is innocent and sweet. Here is the trailer
.Click here for trailer
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